Helia Brightwinter
Shen'dralar Ley Walker Appearance One of the first things one might notice about Helia is his hair; long, so dark blue it's nearly black, and consists of many tiny braids that are too fluid to be considered dreadlocks. On occasion his hair is worn in a sort of twist or ponytail and lightly decorated with cool toned gems and silver thread. Like the kaldorei, he has proportionate eyebrows that help extend his ever expressive features, and he has a well maintained goatee with sharp edges. Helia has high cheekbones, silvery glowing eyes, and flawless blue skin. The magi's fashionable clothes attractively display his slender form. He might appear a bit malnourished but under his robes mingled with leathers and fur is solid, lithe muscle. He is rather young for a kaldorei, but in his seven centuries he has fought more than not, enough to afford him some respect among his elders. Oftentimes, he can be seen adorned with small jewels and trinkets, although he is almost never caught with any sort of magical ruin or artifact. Rather than a staff or wand, the magi will have a sword at his hip. He smells of winter, leather and pine. Helia is an agile creature, cat-like in his movements with an artist's hands, utilizing his long legs in the acrobats of battle like a dancer. He holds himself upright, never slouching, and even in his most relaxed pose he still holds a confident, prince-like aura without extra effort. Personality Between toothy, shark-like smiles and lowered eyes of demurred respect, it is rather difficult to tell if Helia is a creature built out of lies or simply guarded with false kindness. He can often come across as a very powerful ally but can switch sides in an instant depending on where the opportunity lies. Helia is not driven by gold in particular, but he does enjoy gifts and kind words to build his reputation so it's not too terribly difficult to goad him into an alliance. Otherwise, outside of negotiations, he cares very little if his acquaintances perish, even if it's by his own hand. Not that Helia is definitively drawn to bloodshed; rather he is apathetic to it. Most people are kept at an arm’s length with dishonest smiles and charming words, therefore it matters little to him who ends up at the sharp end of the blade. However, Helia loves very deeply. The few friends he allows into his life are fiercely embedded and lovers are so remarkably rare he is often rumored to be asexual. Any other sense of intimate affections is often met with motive and never grace his bed. Behind all the masks, like many forged out of tragedy, Helia is a monster that is broken, bruised, and a little bit insane. Battle Tactics Sword His sword is often out almost as much as his magic when it comes to battle. Helia's graceful movements would suggest he was properly trained in the art of swordsmanship, but his tactics appear to hone closer to agility and defense. He rarely has the final blow and does little damage, almost as if it's more to hold out until help arrives or he comes up with a clever divergent to the fight. Magic Although a talented mage in his own right with a perchance for frost and illusion, Helia can better be considered a Ley Walker, drawing on the powers of the ley lines for his strength. He uses his own body (not his soul) as a conduit rather than a staff or other magical object; his claim is that he can feel the magic clearer and maneuver it better when it's under his fingertips. Because of this his magic can be extremely powerful but just as draining to the body. So, for one moment he might destroy like a tornado, the next he'll be the most useless person to have on your strike team. There are a few spells he has created and adapted from his time with the ley lines. His favorite is something like Blink and Teleport, where he will disappear onto the ley lines to a location not too far away without the need of deep runes or rituals. Of course, being a diva with a need to show off, he disappears and reappears with the dissipation and convergence of small, silvery moths. Science While most magi seem content to have their magic stuffed with herbs, potions, runes, and crystals, Helia's is one draped in math, equations, and cold logic. Rather than simply trying to figure out new spells and learn from written work, he spends much of his time trying to discover the "why" of magic. The fact that magic overthrows physics baffles him and it's his own personal mission to figure out why. It's the puzzles he enjoys, the challenge of a new, unsolved quest that gets him going. Sometimes, he will spend sleepless days at a time mulling over his work, living on coffee and stale bread and often times finding himself waking up with a crick in his neck from falling asleep in his chair. History Eldre'Thalas Born into the serving class in one of the last thriving districts in Eldre'Thalas, the Sagefountain District. Helia learned very quickly what it took to step up the ladder inside the home of the elite and his cunning granted him many titles in his time of service. His motives were often shaded in secrecy when he clawed and manipulated his way up to Head Butler of the Sagefountain family, the most influential and notable clan within the district. His reasoning for his goals were less than innocent. Young and useless to a slowly dying society, he knew he had to become a pivotal role in the world in order to survive. Through his meddling, he realized that the serving class were being bartered off as Prince Tortheldrin's sacrifices for continued survival and oblivious ears to the outside cries of their crumbling city. Galeadon Oceanfire, a prominent but shut-in arcanist, noticed Helia's near-genius mind for numbers early on and struck a bargain to become his mentor while Helia continued to serve in the houses of Sagefountain. Helia took to Ley Walking like a babe to its first steps; he was brilliant and sought to see the world through eyes of the arcane outside their closed off walls. With tensions mounting between castes, Helia took a lot of his shoulders to protect both sides. Lady Sagefountain threw acid on his face when covering a beating of a servant which nearly blinded him. He used a strong illusion charm to hide the gruesome scars and his Ley Walking for assistance with his sight. He also gave all of himself for the elite's pleasures, making him bitter against emotional contact. Between Galeadon's influence and Helia's inside position when he achieved Head Butler, they banded together the servant class against the Shan'dralar and a bloody civil war began. They cut the Sagefountain District off from the rest of Eldre'Thalas to keep the Prince's troops out, and kept any sacrifices at bay. Helia became a political head of the war, carrying the surname Redfountain for the bodies he drowned in the central fountain and the water he tinged red with saber blood to use as rune ink that fortified the district. Eventually, as with all wars, loyalties fell apart and Helia was betrayed by his mentor and situational-lover, Galeadon. After personally disposing of his traitorous adviser, he struck a deal with his former employer, Lady Sagefountain herself, and set up a political marriage to return calm. Sadly, the damage was already done. The Sagefountain District had fallen from it's former glory and was getting encroached on by the Prince's greedy hands. Helia watched with a bitter heart as his wife willingly drank the poison he gave her upon her assassination. Taking her throne of power, he threw any remaining loyal Prince Tortheldrin into his murderous hands, and led the servants and those elite willing to give up their class into Archmage Mordent Evenshade's camp. They then followed him to Darnassus to disperse among the world outside Eldre'Thalas with the other highborne. The World Escaping Eldre'Thalas was not the last of Helia's troubles. He was quickly turned upon once the highborne were safe, to where he had to flee with his daughter and few remaining loyal followers from the civil war. They were in hiding in Wintersping by the time news of their acquittal from their crimes by Tyrande arrived, citing that they had not in fact murdered but played a part in a war for survival against a tyrant and unfortunate circumstances. Just the same, the party broke up and everyone went their separate ways. Helia remained behind for some time and contemplated ritual suicide for the crimes of his heart, and to those he abolished along the way. He fell to his knees in the snow at an abandoned Kaldorei shrine and prepared to end himself in the silence of the winter night. But then the wind stirred and made old icicles chime an ancient song of Elune. She spoke to him without words, and he offered his life to Her. He begged forgiveness and asked to be remade anew. Helia was truly sorry for his sins and fell apart that night. Helia Redfountain was no more as the snow filtered down through the moonlight of the shrine and quietly melted on his cheeks, and Helia Brightwinter's soul was cleansed. So overcome with emotions, Helia collapsed into darkness. When he awoke he found himself being cared for in a cabin that was occupied by a group of adventurers. The leader was Amoonth Starsong, second-in-command to the Starsong Clan, assisted by his gnome wife Nelmarai. He made fast friends with the brilliant warlock, Lilah "Kahlilah" O'Hara and the dwarf engineer Krasuli Shatterbranch. When he was well enough to travel they invited him to join them on their adventures as they traded along the coasts of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms for goods under the Starsong Clan name. Their origins were shady at best, but Helia didn't mind, nor did he have issue with cross-faction allies and trades. He found them to be good people, and with his heart clean, he ventured forth under their banner as a contractor and negotiator. However, at the sudden accidental death of Krasuli, Helia went into a deep mourning. His contracts became more dangerous, even suicidal to the Clan, and his personal endeavors for his fortunes became murky and bordered on piracy. Eventually, Amoonth was forced to part ways with Helia until he stopped his destructive negotiation tenancies. Which didn't happen. His greed and selfishness resurfaced as before and his fortunes grew quickly. He returned to Darnassus and pushed a king pin out of the way to set up shop as one of the dominate tradesmen working Northern Kalimdor waters. And he was good because not everyone knew who the leader of the trade routes was, so he continued to run side jobs as an adventurer and mage for hire in lew of finding more work for his business. After a short stint with the Silver Circle, he made residence at Kahlilah's farm in Hillsbrad Foothills. Helia finally broke down to confess his love for the late Krasuli to Lilah, and she welcomed him into her home to let him properly mourn without judgement during the cold winter months. As spring slowly turned to summer, however, the warlock began to urge Helia out of her house with errands and business transactions. Eventually, she told him to attempt to 'date' and find new friends, to which he laughed... until she had her demon kick him bodily from her home. When he returned to Darnassus and his business he found that someone had begun to sink his trade ships. Not one to sit and let minions take on the important jobs, he took himself to sail again, this time with the crew of Storm Glaive. Current Events Helia is currently a successful middleman for trade routes and a sorcerer for hire. With his unique skill set among magi and a silver tongue to keep him in right standings with Kaldorei and non-Kaldorei tradesmen and adventurers, he tends to linger around Darnassus and its towns for work. He has very little preference to the morals of the job as long as he gets paid and has a good time doing it. He has taken up membership with the crew of Storm Glaive after word of an unknown group attacking his trade ships. He hopes to find answers and punish those trying to destroy his comfortable living. Friends, Family, and Enemies * Lord and Lady Sagefountain: Elite Shen'dralar couple of the Sagefountain District with a taste for expensive luxury and a dozen skeletons in their closets. Helia learned a lot about manipulation, deceit, and keeping a false smile when in the presence of someone particularly nasty from them. Lady Sagefountain disfigured his face and nearly blinded him with acidic poison. Helia later ended up in a political marriage to Lady Sagefountain; she was assassinated shortly after. * Galeadon Oceanfire: Helia's arcane mentor and eventual beneficial lover. They spent many years together going over magic theory and taking apart fabrics of reality to get to the core of arcane. However, during the war, Galeadon betrayed Helia to the Shen'dralar, so Helia slit his throat. * Mimioka Greenscale: Daughter of Lady Sagefountain, although her natural father is unknown. Born with a mental disability, she was disregarded and raised by servants. Helia took her in and considers her his daughter. She has an affinity for serpents, snakes, and lizards and is currently a traveling Pet Tamer. * Lilah "Kahlilah" O'Hara: A warlock and brilliant scientist with too much knowledge of anatomy. Best friend and confidant of Helia. She rarely speaks, and shares Helia's discontent for sex despite being enchanted with a succubus. * Krasali Shatterbranch: A talented dwarven engineer. What started out as a bromance forged from long nights of talks of chemical mixtures and loud explosions, ended up an amazing night of passion after a successful experiment took flight. Helia had never known a man to be so bold and blunt and pure as Krasali and he fell madly in love with him. Sadly, a freak accident took his life and Helia continues to mourn. * Saelya Nightshade: A curious young Druidess he met in Silver Circle. He considers her a nieve girl but strong despite the circumstances. Counts her as a friend and ally. Rumors Common Knowledge (Easily overheard.) "You know that Highborne there? He's such a sell out! He'll take any job. I bet he'd even work for the Horde if they paid him enough." "Selfish, greedy, arrogant; he works alone because no one can stand his diva attitude. The only thing you can trust about him is that you ''can't ''trust him. The little shit." "Sometimes people like to make bets to see who can bed tall, dark and gorgeous over there. So far, no one's won, but it's fun to watch them try. Man or woman, doesn't matter, he'll flirt right back but never takes them to bed. It's like some game to him." Uncommon Knowledge (One might have to ask around and investigate to gain this knowledge.) "I heard that he called in some help to rid a village of an arcane anomaly that was destroying it. I guess he found it when he was studying some threads of the ley lines." "He's spectacular at illusions. I heard that he is actually disfigured but uses a glamour spell to hide his true looks. Some say he can shapeshift and goes around as a woman." "Absolutely brilliant. He uses equations and logic for his magic; like his power revolves around math and science rather than magic and ether." Rare Knowledge (To gain this knowledge, one would have to have incredible intent on finding out about Helia and do some digging.) "Brightwinter? No, I knew him as Redfountain. He's lucky he's kept some good political contacts or else he'd have been party to a public execution. But, I guess he was already punished enough..." 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